1. Condemnation… the word itself sounds heavy & burdensome.
• HOUSES are CONDEMNED… to be torn down & never used again.
• CRIMINALS are CONDEMNED… never to leave prison.
• CONDEMN… literally, “A decision against someone, a judgment!”
• Webster says, “to declare reprehensible, wrong or evil. To pronounce guilty! To sentence… to doom.”
• SEE HOW HEAVY A WORD IT IS? WOW!
Ever feel condemned? Ever feel like a decision was made against you… ever have someone declare you to be guilty!?
• Remember the last time you were heading down the road, minding your own business, & saw those flashing lights in your mirror?!! ARRGGGH!
• U Look at the speedometer and it says YES, you were fast!
• The officer comes up to you and says “hello, how are you, can I see your driver’s license and registration please?”
• You feel, well, SO busted, like a kid in the principal’s office!
• As you wait there, you can already calculate what your insurance will cost, how writing that check will hurt…
• AND the officer returns to your window, SIR, I’m going to just give you a warning this time… but you know this area has a lot of kids playing in it and you need to slow down!
• OH MAN, HALLEJULAH… what a relief. I’m using that cruise control on every street now! No more. Whew! I’m ok. WOW!
Take that feeling, and multiply it by 10 BILLION and that’s the essence of Romans 8:1…
NOTE: I deserved so much but I’m not getting what I deserve…
• In Christ Jesus, there is NO CONDEMNATION.
• That’s good news. That’s great news considering what we just finished studying back in Romans 7:14ff
THE BATTLE gets so heavy. The SPIRITUAL WAR so difficult…
• It’s easy to get so sick and tired of fighting.
• It’s gets to be where it feels like it’s just too much.
• Then with failure always comes this sense of guilt & shame which quickly turns into a heaviness of condemnation!
BUT friends, for those of you who are IN CHRIST Jesus, there is NO CONDEMNATION… your past sins forgiven.
• Your present sins… forgiven. Your future sins… forgiven.
• The Bible teaches us that there is NO condemnation.
• That word NO means NO POSSIBILITY! NONE. ZERO. ZIP!
SALVATION IS A WHOLE PACKAGE.
• He saves me & you in the whole!
• Because God is NOT working in a past, present, future kind of environment, He’s outside of time.
• He is always the great I AM! Everything is NOW to Him.
• It’s all NOW, and He saves you knowing everything about you!
NOTE: Too many Christians, so many believers are living under a sense of condemnation that they have done something wrong and God just can’t forgive them… God just won’t forgive them!
Here are some signs, some symptoms to look out for. Ready?
#1 – You always feel guilty.
• Whether or not you’ve done anything wrong, you’re always feeling guilty. It’s heavy doesn’t seem to ever go away.
#2 – You are motivated by guilt.
• When someone lays a guilt trip on you, you spring into action.
• And even if someone doesn’t lay a heavy trip on you, it’s gets turned into a guilt thing in your own heart.
#3 – You are a people pleaser.
• When you do good, you expect people to tell you so.
• OR you’re always wanting to be accepted & appreciated and when you’re not, you feel real bad about yourself.
#4 – You feel like God is mad at you.
• The mistakes you’ve made are always plaguing you when you sit down to read your Bible or pray.
• And you actually think God is really, really displeased with you
#5 – You never feel like you do enough.
• You can serve for 100’s of hours, pray all night long, but leave that time wondering if you should have done more!
#6 – You live in the past (not the good past, only the bad things)
• The things you’ve done are always on your mind, even if they were done 25 years ago. They have enslaved you.
NOTE: There are more, but these are the ones that seem to pop up time and time again.
• LISTEN If you’ve made mistakes, if you’ve sinned, and have asked for forgiveness, then God has forgiven you of your sin!
• There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus!
SO THE REAL QUESTION IS: ARE YOU IN CHRIST?
• Have you been born again?
• I don’t just mean that you were baptized as an infant.
• I don’t mean have you gone to church all your life or have you said a prayer here or there…
• I’m not asking if you’re NOT AS BAD as the person next to you.
• They aren’t as bad as you really think! Ha ha.
• Have you been born again?!
• Have you seriously & decisively asked Jesus Christ to come into your life and forgive you of your sins?!
IF so, then the Bible describes you as IN CHRIST!
• The benefits of being in Christ are overwhelming!
Hebrews 8:6 (NKJV) 6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.
• The old covenant had everything to do with what you are doing to be right with God.
• The new covenant is based on BETTER PROMISES.
• It’s better… it’s the work of God in your life now, His work!
• So what does the Bible say about those in Christ?!
• I popped that phrase, “IN Christ” into my trusty computer program and came up with no less than 85 times. (info desk)
Romans 3:24 – We’ve been justified freely.
Romans 6:11 – I am dead to sin! It doesn’t have the same strength or power over my life any more!
Romans 6:23 – I have eternal life in Christ, the hope of heaven!
Romans 8:39 – I will never be separated from God’s Love!
Romans 12:5 – I’m in a body of believers. We all have Jesus in common!
Romans 15:8 – I have hope in Him.
Romans 15:17 – I have reason to glory in Christ! I have a reason to live, to serve, to live life to the fullest!
1 Corinthians 1:2 – I am sanctified. God is changing my life!
2 Corinthians 5:17 – I’m a new person, old things have passed away!
To those who aren’t IN CHRIST, who don’t have Jesus in their lives, who aren’t born again… what a contrast!
• If you don’t have Jesus today, you’re messed up!
• Your life is filled with confusion, guilt, bondage, neglect, and a boatload of condemnation!
Ephesians 5:6 (NKJV) 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
John 3:17-20 (NKJV) 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
Flip over to John 8 – We meet a woman, caught in the very act.
• By the time they reach Jesus with her, understand that act was in her past… it was haunting her, pushing her, condemning her!
• Jesus begins to write on the ground… jotting notes down about the religious leaders there… why? They weren’t repentant!
• Then in v10, where are those accusers of yours?!
• NEITHER DO I CONDEMN you… go & sin no more.
APP: I don’t know why we would want to argue with God when He tells us, Neither Do I Condemn you… go and sin no more.
• I forgive you… past, present and future. I forgive you.
• In Christ today, you are forgiven.
Isaiah says…
Isaiah 44:22 (NKJV) 22 I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, And like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”
David says…
Psalm 103:10-11 (NKJV) 10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
Isaiah says again…
Isaiah 43:25 (NKJV) “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.
Peter says…
Acts 3:19 (NKJV) 19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
It’s glorious!!
Romans 8:1 (NKJV) 1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
OK… let’s leave here with a few practical tips in living the life of Jesus apart from condemnation.
#1 – DON’T CONFUSE CONDEMNATION WITH CONVICTION.
• They are 2 very different things.
• CONVICTION of sin is good, wholesome and valuable.
• The condemnation of the law brings death but the conviction of the Holy Spirit brings life and correction.
• The HS will never condemn you… ever!
• The enemy is the accuser of the brethren…
#2 – WHEN YOU’RE CONVICTED, REPENT.
• You can say and say and say, but never really mean it.
• True repentance will lead you away from that sin.
• The first step toward repentance is CONFESSION!
• Seeing something like God sees it and agreeing with Him.
1 John 1:9 (NKJV) 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
• If you’re struggling in this area, read Psalm 51. It’s often called a psalm of repentance!
• God will empower you… and help you… and strengthen you!
#3 – KNOW & BELIEVE & ACT ON GOD’S WORD!
• This is very simple, but so very important.
• The Bible says there is NO CONDMNATION, no possibility of you or me entering into condemnation.
Romans 5:1-2 (NKJV) 1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
John 5:24 (NKJV) 24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
We live by what God has said in His Word. His Word is life.
• We don’t live by our feelings or experiences.
• I think of NOAH in the ark he built out of obedience.
• I wonder if at any time he felt silly building this big boat in a time where the world had not seen even a drop of rain!
• I wonder if Joan his wife, Joan of Ark, ever had a finger pointed at him to get that thing out of the front yard!
• But he heard, believed, and acted on the WORD OF GOD!
#4 – NO MORE LOOKING BACK.
• This will the sum of what we look at next time…
Romans 8:1, read it, hear it, memorize it, believe it, live in it’s glorious truths!
